


Mutant

by soupypictures



Category: Olympics RPF, Sports RPF, Swimming RPF
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-19 12:08:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7360843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soupypictures/pseuds/soupypictures
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Imagine a world where Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are super talented but kind of slackers. In that world, Laszlo Cseh is the greatest swimmer of all time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mutant

**Author's Note:**

> Stopped writing this because the idea was more fantasy than any potential. The lead-up to Rio seems like a good enough stoop on which to abandon it.

“He’s like a mutant, or something.”

The Hungarians have just finished up in the warm-up pool. The Americans are stretching, waiting for the pool to be clear and for their coaches to hand down today’s warm-up. Ryan Lochte is looking longingly at the sprinters—their taper is down to just a few hundred meters—but Michael Phelps has his eyes locked on the last man in the pool, the eighteen-year-old set to win all of his races. And he has a _lot_ of races.

“Who’s a mutant?” Ryan asks, dragging his eyes away from Jason Lezak.

Michael waves at the dark-haired boy pulling himself out of the pool. “Cseh.”

Ryan scoffs and reaches for his hotel towel and briefs. “That’s not Cseh. Cseh is bald.”

Michael hasn’t known Ryan long, just through the training trip, and so he is still being surprised by Ryan’s idiosyncrasies. Or idiocy, he’s not sure yet. “Cseh _shaves his head_.”

Halfway through his deckchange, Ryan stops and cocks his head to the side. “Oh, well that makes more sense.”

Michael doesn’t ask, “Than _what?_ ” and instead repeats his comment. “He’s a mutant.”

“No, he’s not a mutant. He goes to practice _every day_. Unlike you two.” Coach Bowman shoulders his way between them and Michael can _feel_ Ryan rolling his eyes. As Bob starts to rattle off their last-minute focuses before Day One of swimming, Michael watches Cseh make his way to the locker rooms. 

_Mutant._

———

For the better part of three years, Bob had been nagging him about dedicating himself to the “program” and about how much potential he had. “You could be the best in the world, if you just _tried_ a little harder.”

But Michael wanted none of that. He would swim as long as it was fun for him. That’s why he and Ryan got so close, so quickly—they both loved swimming, liked the bodies they earned through it, and wouldn’t deny, if pressed, that the brief snatches of fame they’d get as Olympians would be appreciated for all the tail they hoped to snag later on.


End file.
